1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air cleaner, and more particularly, to an air cleaner and a method of controlling an operation of the same, so as to remove foreign particles from an indoor air, and provide insufficient components of the indoor air, thereby obtaining a comfortable indoor environment with an optimum air state.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, an air cleaner provides a comfortable room environment by carrying out a deodorization function for removing various smells in a room air, and a dust collecting function for removing dust from the room air. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 illustrate a general air cleaner. Hereinafter, the general air cleaner will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to FIG. 1, the general air cleaner is provided with a cabinet 10, a filter assembly 20, a fan assembly 30, and a guide 40.
At this time, the cabinet 10 is provided with an inlet 11 and an outlet 12. In this state, the room air is drawn into the inside of the cabinet 10 through the inlet 11. For example, the inlet 10 is provided in a lower front part of the cabinet 10. Also, the air cleaned inside the cabinet 10 is discharged to the room through the outlet 12. For example, the outlet 12 is provided in an upper rear part of the cabinet 10.
The filter assembly 20 is provided with a first filter 21 and a second filter 22. The first filter 21 removes the dust from the room air, drawn into the inside of the cabinet 10 through the inlet 11, and the second filter 22 removes smell particles therefrom. At this time, the first filter 21 is provided inside the cabinet 10 near to the inlet 11, and the second filter 22 is provided in the rear of the first filter 21 so as to remove the fine dust or smell particles unfiltered in the first filter 21.
The fan assembly 30 is provided with a fan 31 and a fan housing 32. The fan 31 is provided inside the cabinet 10 between the filter assembly 20 and the outlet 12, and the fan housing 32 is provided to surround the fan 31.
As shown in FIG. 2, the guide 40 is provided inside the cabinet 10 so as to guide the air passing through the fan 31 to the outlet 12.
On operation of the general air cleaner, when the fan 31 is rotated, the room air is drawn into the inside of the cabinet 10 through the inlet 11, and the air passes through the filter assembly 20. At this time, the first filter 21 removes the dust from the air, and the second filter 22 removes the smell particles from the air. After that, the filtered air flows into the fan 31, and is guided to the outlet 12 by the guide 40. Then, the air is discharged to the room.
As mentioned above, the general air cleaner has the following disadvantages.
First, the general air cleaner simply removes the dust and the smell particles from the room air. Accordingly, even though the air filtered and cleaned by the air cleaner is provided to the room, a user may not feel that the room air is cleaned, whereby it is hard to obtain a user's reliability.
Also, the general air cleaner provides the cleaned air having a temperature corresponding to the indoor temperature. Accordingly, in case of that the air discharged from the air cleaner is direct contact with the skin of the user in the winter or summer, the user may feel unpleasant. Thus, in addition to the air cleaner, the user requires an additional air conditioner for cooling or heating the room air.